Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I have absolutely loved being pregnant. Besides the typical problems (swollen feet and ankles, getting sick more easily, and constantly being exhausted) I have had a pretty easy pregnancy. I've had very very little morning sickness, and no extra concerns about our little girls progress. I am very grateful for this. I feel so bad watching family members who are also pregnant feeling awful and being very sick, when every time someone asks me how I'm doing I can honestly respond "I'm doing great, thanks!"
Things can change pretty quickly though. On March 5th, I went in for a doctors appointment and left very happy because everything was going exactly as it should be. Our doctor had no concerns about the baby, so we just scheduled our next appointment for two weeks later. The next morning, I woke up and kissed Scott goodbye as he left for work. Moments later, I started to get cramps. My first thought was that they were Braxton Hicks, or the false labor contractions. I remembered my doctor and the teacher from our Childbirth Prep Class saying that by drinking water, going to the bathroom, and laying down in different positions should make them go away pretty quickly. I tried, but they wouldn't go away, in fact it was getting worse. I tried to wait it out but after about two hours, I was getting nervous. I called the doctor and went in to see them early that afternoon. They hooked me up to a monitor to watch Chloe's heart rate and check to see if I was having contractions. And... I was! I was at 33 weeks, so it was scary thinking this could mean Chloe could be getting here sooner than expected. She wasn't ready or done developing. My contractions were only a minute apart and were not going away. They sent me to the hospital where they continued to monitor me. I was given a shot to help them go away, and when that didn't work, they gave me a pill instead. This helped dull the contractions. After they watched me long enough to know there was no concern of Chloe coming that night and my contractions were going away, they released from the hospital with a prescription to continue taking that medication if the contractions came back.
Though this scare made me worry, I felt so bad for Scott who just sat by and had to hope everything would work out. He was so nervous. On our way home, he started making a list of things we needed to get for our bag when we go to the hospital. We hadn't had the baby shower at this point and he was very concerned because we didn't have most of the things we would need once Chloe is born, most specifically the car seat! We decided it was best to wait for the baby shower before going out and getting everything. If she were to come early, we knew it would work out and we would have help from family and friends to get the necessities. We did however, get most of the things we would need for our hospital bag if I did go into labor.The contractions have continued coming back since then, but the prescription has helped them to go away temporarily. Now that I am 36 weeks, they had me go off the medication because she is developed enough that we know she would be okay if she were to come early. She could be here anyday. This has both Scott and me with a crazy amount of mixed emotions. We have our concerns and are nervous, but how can we not be. Mostly, we are excited and can't wait for her to get here. We already love her so much and just want to meet her.
Now, we have had the baby shower, which was absolutely wonderful. It was so nice to see everyone and celebrate our little girl on the way. We are so grateful for all the gifts we have gotten to help us prepare for her arrival. So thank you to everyone who participated in that celebration with us. It means so much!
We took lots of pictures, which I want to share and I also wanted to keep a record of all the awesome memories and a reminder of the gifts we received. Here are some I want to share! Thank you to all of you who shared that day with me and helped to spoil our little girl!

What a great gift from my family. Now Scott and I don't have to worry about not having a car seat to take her home in! And, we have a stroller to bring her on walks over to see Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kelsey, and Aunt Who! Thank you! I love you so much and I know Chloe will too.

Gina made Chloe a Build-A-Bear and named her "Chloe". It was just the sweetest gift and was so nice of her to do that for our little girl. Thank you Gina!

The bassinet is from my grandparents who weren't able to be at the shower. Thank you Mimi and Papa! We can't wait for Chloe to get here and be able to use it!

Courtney Ward constantly told me that she was going to get my daughter her first pair of vans! I couldn't help but smile when I opened her gift and saw these darling little shoes. Chloe will be one stylish little girl. Thank you Aunt Courtney!

Also, thank you to everyone who got her all of the adorable little outfits. I don't think we will have to buy her clothes for a year. It is so helpful and so cute. I can't wait to get her all dressed up in these clothes. I can't help but feel so blessed for all the help we have already gotten and for all the support! We love you guys! Thank you!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

After months of coming up with different theme ideas, color pallets, and furniture, I am excited to say our little girls nursery is complete! We came up with the theme for Neverland because we figured it would be good no matter the gender. We picked out colors (bright green for the walls, and blue for the ceiling) and got to work painting just a few days before we had the 20 week ultrasound telling us it was a girl. Let me tell you, neither Scott or I are the best painters. We had many frustrations. There were spots that needed going over multiple times, we got paint on the carpets, and painting where the wall meets the ceiling was a nightmare. After we found out it was a girl, we started looking at furniture. We were able to find something we both loved. Scott, being my Mr. Handyman, worked hard putting it all together and setting it up while i cleaned. Then of course, we had to add pink since it is going to be a girls room. And what fun is it having a girl if you don't have a little pink. Thats where the bedding and curtains came in. We have enjoyed spending the time together putting together Chloe's nursery. No matter what problems occurred, disagreements we had, or frustrations crossed our path, it has been so great being able to make these memories and prepare for our precious girl. We are so anxious for her to get here. Anyways, now that the room is done, and we finally took pictures, we decided it was time to share.

We loved this painting of them flying to Neverland. It was hard to find
but we got it offline and decided it really completed the room.

And of course, we couldn't have a Neverland room for our girl
without Tinkerbell. We made Tinkerbell's home and hung it from
the ceiling in the corner of the room.

We love love love this quote and thought it would be a cute way to
take up some wall space instead of leaving it bare.

We cannot wait for her to come, especially now that we have her room all set up and ready for her. I have a feeling that these next 7 weeks are not going to go fast enough.